The US Supreme Court, by a 5-4 majority, upheld a temporary restraining order against Trump’s administration on Wednesday. The government must reinstate the frozen foreign assistance fund of approximately $2 billion. Writing for the dissent, Justice Samuel Alito described the majority’s decision to uphold the temporary restraining order as “an act of judicial hubris.” The [...]

The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal on Thursday unanimously quashed the convictions of opposition activists Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong for failing to comply with notices to provide information under Article 43 of the China-imposed National Security Law (NSL). The legal dispute concerns provisions of section 3(3) in Schedule 5 of Implementation [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report Wednesday that unveiled harmful mining practices in Zambia, specifically at Kabwe, the capital of Zambia’s Central Province. The report accused the Zambian government of facilitating the lead poisoning of its citizens instead of protecting them from the hazardous effects of mining. Associate children’s rights director at HRW Juliane [...]

Amnesty International published a report on Tuesday exposing Russia’s mistreatment of both Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian captives currently held in detention within Ukrainian territory and in Russia. The report determined that Russia’s treatment of detained Ukrainians amounted to war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity. Amnesty researchers interviewed 104 people living in [...]

Amnesty International called on Wednesday for an international investigation into Israeli military attacks on healthcare facilities during the Lebanon war, and labeled them as war crimes. Amnesty International’s own investigation focused on four Israeli attacks in Beirut between October 3 and 9, 2024, which killed 19 healthcare workers, wounded 11 more, and destroyed multiple ambulances [...]

Serbia’s opposition lawmakers on Tuesday threw smoke grenades and tear gas inside the National Assembly to support demonstrating students. One legislator suffered a stroke during the chaos and three MPs were injured, and politicians were seen clashing with security on live footage. The opposition members defended their actions, stating that the government had refused to [...]

The Law Commission of Ontario (LSO) and the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on Monday released a background report on the ongoing Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) on the development of AI. The report serves as a follow-up review of the LSO and OHRC’s initial 2024 HRIA framework which was created as a tool to [...]

India on Monday strongly rebuked UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk for his remarks on Kashmir and Manipur, calling them “unfounded and baseless.” The sharp response came after Turk, in his global update at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, raised concerns over violence and displacement in Manipur [...]

On Friday, March 7, just ahead of the Jewish Sabbath, a South Carolina firing squad will shoot to death my longtime pen pal and friend Brad Sigmon. This will mark the first American firing squad execution to take place in 15 years. Accordingly, it will be the first since I co-founded the 3,800+-member-strong L’chaim! Jews [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders called Wednesday for urgent support for rights defenders in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor recognized the deteriorating situation in the DRC, stating: “Human rights defenders in the eastern DRC are currently at extreme risk of reprisals for their human rights [...]